Author Archives: Paul

We’ve never been big on celebrating our national identity. We regard it as slightly vulgar and I love that. We’re not “proud” of being English. How can we be? Nationality is a mere foible of fate for which we can take neither credit nor blame. So saying “I’m English and proud of it” is a […]

….then at 0.07, we get the lead. And at 0.18, they’re joined by the bass and drums to complete the classic Quo sound. It’s often derided but I love that three-chord simplicity. Along with Rossi and Parfitt, the sound itself has become a national treasure. I’ve picked this example because it first helped me understand […]

First bank holiday of the year so would you have travelled by motorbike or scooter to the seaside for a tear-up with the opposing tribe? Having had several Vespas, my answer would have to be Mod. There was a Mod revival when I was at school which meant parkas over blazers, ties pulled skinny and […]

I don’t believe it! No, really – I don’t believe it. But Happy Easter anyway.

Back in the 80s, she ran Groove Records in Soho and a more unlikely soul and hip-hop aficionado would be hard to imagine. She was about sixty and would often put down her knitting to serve customers, yet there was nothing she didn’t know about the latest US dance imports. Groove Records was a tiny […]

It’s Good Friday, the day Our Lord was apparently crucified. As a child, I remember any display of happiness being strictly forbidden. The Catholics of Kilburn and Cricklewood would make their way to the sombre 3 o’clock service, all terribly solemn. Or pretending to be terribly solemn. Everyone knew that within 48 hours Our Hero […]

A myth that the BBC are still trying to propagate. They know that it was a scandalous waste of £1 billion to move people and programmes up there so they try to justify it at any opportunity. On the World Service the other night, there was a documentary hosted by a “Proud Mancunian” bleating on […]

Baddies during the Cold War because we were brought up to regard Russia as the enemy. And baddies now because of tales we hear about sinister oligarchs who’ve employed nefarious means to amass obscene amounts of wealth. And this morning we heard about how it’s all kicked off again in Ukraine. Every time we see […]

“George & Lynne” was a hugely popular cartoon strip in The Sun which ran from the 1970s until relatively recently. George was handsome, masculine and successful – Lynne was his beautiful, dutiful and very sexy wife. Their life was the very acme of suburban aspiration. Big house by the river with “all mod cons”, drinks […]

Whatever that means. All I remember is that it’s the Sunday before Easter and at mass, we were each given a frond from a palm tree that had been origami-ed into the shape of a cross. Perfect for pretend sword-fights afterwards, which I’m not sure was what they were intended for. This is the only […]